Former NATO secretary general explains why allies did not close the skies over Ukraine in 2022

NATO did not close Ukraine's airspace at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 because it believed that doing so would lead to war with Moscow. This was stated by the former secretary general of the Alliance, the current minister of Finance of Norway Jens Stoltenberg in an interview to the British newspaper The Times about his memoirs.

The former secretary general described a "painful moment" in February 2022 when he refused to Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his desperate request to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Stoltenberg noted that he feared that their conversation might be the last phone call the Ukrainian president would make.

"We all feared for the lives of president Zelenskyy and his family. He called me from a bunker in Kyiv with Russian tanks just up the road. And he said: ‘I accept you’re not sending in Nato ground troops, though I disagree. But please close the airspace. Prevent the Russian planes, drones and helicopters from flying and attacking us", he said.

According to him, Zelenskyy also said: "I know NATO can do it because you've done it before."

NATO closed the airspace over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s to prevent atrocities during the war, and allies, including the United Kingdom, closed the airspace over northern Iraq to protect the Kurdish people, Stoltenberg recalled.

However, he noted that during the call, he answered Zelenskyy: "I understand why you’re asking for this. But it will not happen, because if NATO is going to close the airspace of Ukraine, the first thing we have to do is take out Russian air defence systems in Belarus and Russia, as we cannot fly in over Ukrainian airspace with Russian air defence missiles targeting NATO planes."

Also, the former secretary general added, if there is a Russian plane or helicopter in the air, NATO forces will have to shoot it down, and then the Alliance will be in a state of full-scale war with Russia: "And we’re not willing to do that."

"As Biden, who was US president at the time, put it, we will not risk a third world war for Ukraine," Stoltenberg said.

He added: "I remember it was extremely painful to end that phone call [with Zelensky], knowing that his life was in danger."

• In September 2025, after a Russian drone attack on Poland, foreign minister Sikorski called on to consider the idea of creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
• That same month, president Zelenskyy also proposed that the allies create a joint air defense system to protect against threats from Russia.